09/18/2010

China spooks auto makers

BEIJING—Joining a wave of corporate criticism about Chinese industrial policy, foreign auto makers are concerned about a Beijing plan for electric-vehicle development that could force manufacturers like Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. to share technology with Chinese companies in exchange for access to the nation's huge market.

The 10-year plan, being prepared by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is aimed at making the nation "the world's leader" in developing and producing battery-powered cars and hybrids, according to executives of four foreign auto makers.

The draft suggests that the government could compel foreign auto makers that want to produce electric vehicles in China to share key technologies by requiring the companies to enter joint ventures in which they are limited to a minority stake, the executives say.

Their concerns follow increasingly vocal criticism by foreign companies, such as Siemens AG, General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp., about the business environment in China. Foreign executives and government officials have raised complaints about Chinese indigenous-innovation policies that the companies fear are designed to discriminate against them or to force them to transfer intellectual property to China.

The electric-vehicles plan is aimed at developing three to five Chinese companies into globally competitive makers of all-electric cars or plug-in hybrids by 2020, and developing two to three global suppliers of key components, such as advanced batteries and motors.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal

Sep 18, 2010 10:44:45 AM | Automobiles, Current Affairs

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